Communist ideology dictates the ultimate goal of
Marxism be total
world domination, via "any means necessary", and the
Politburo is never supposed to relax in their efforts in pursuing that end. Hence,
Marxism was a clear and constant
danger to the welfare of
democratic capitalist countries world-wide, and hence be contained.
Marxist ideology dictates that there are three major methods to achieve total socialist world domination.
The first one is supposed to be through democratic means through which weak but well-meaning governments form alliances with their local communist parties, which gradually assumes power until they are ready to engineer a coup d' etat. See also Czechoslovakia. However, this ploy only works on countries that are poor and in bad condition.
The second option is to maintain constant pressure on capitalist countries until they collapse from economic overstrain. Marxist theory dictates that capitalist economies can never maintain a high-standard of living and keeping an army while dealing with the constant slumps and booms of their economies are supposed to go through. Eventually, they'll collapse when pressured enough, and a revolution will replace the government with a Communist regime. Unfortunately, this is a contradiction, because despite all the ramble Marxism throws about efficiency, capitalism is infinitely more efficient in the distribution of resources, and hence can always outlast an economic war.
The third option is outright war. Even if they don't decisively win the hot war, the Politburo is supposed to fight until enough havoc and destruction has been caused. In theory, the post-war poverty, suffering and rebuilding, as well as the resentment of the government for losing the war, is the perfect breeding ground for communist scum. Desperate folks demand desperate measures, and Marx and Engels knew that. By driving the population to desperation, via any means, they are supposed to be able to cause a revolution. Unfortunately for Marx, the thought of the communists losing the war did not occur to him.
And there you have it. What Marxism is all about.
Darn. You caught me, ryano. OK, the basis of the node came out of a book talking about Marxism-Leninism, I dug out the references. However, this view was held by almost all communist regimes back in the Cold War, including China, North Korea, Cuba, and North Vietnam. Yes, it is the actual implementation of Marxism that produced that.
Then again, Marxism blabbers about the "Ultimate Goal" a lot, which is what you're talking about. Even though it never states it concretely, it obviously translates into this solution.
themusic: That is the biggest load of horseshit I've ever read. You merely obfuscate the issue by including American foreign policy, which admittedly engages in operations to increase its power, but not as far as world domination.
What do you know about Reagan? He ended the Cold War, which is far better than letting it run on. And it did not even come close to destroying the United States. That's bullshit and you know it. Canada didn't even do anything to help, but oh well, what do you expect from a socialist state?
War? Need I remind you on the USSR's excesses in Eastern Europe and Central Asia? Russian aggression in Cuba? Jesus, if you're going to quote the 80's, lets look at Afghanistan.
Not even mentioning that America has been decidedly isolationist until the end of World War II, and the commies have been preaching world domination since 1917. So what? Corporations are trying to run a business, and you muddy the waters by calling them agents of American world domination. Yeah, I'm sure when I buy a coke in China, I'm part of their evil schemes. In any case, even IF the Americans are actually intent on world domination, hey, better democratic capitalist than anything else, themusic.